Kindness has been in the air lately. Last week, Southwest Airlines turned a plane around to speed a passenger to her injured son. And in late September, a photo of a stranger soothing her seatmate’s baby went viral on Facebook, inspiring a special group on the social networking site called Flight Angels to encourage similar acts of compassion.

But when it comes to travel, kindness isn't limited to the friendly skies. You can find it just about anywhere, especially if you're willing to take a chance and rely on the goodwill of strangers. One of our favourite accounts is this peculiar Turkish tale from early August, which surfaced on Reddit this week.

In a bizarre story that seems to take its cues from a slapstick comedy, a group of quick-thinking Istanbul locals has performed what looks like the world’s most relaxed rescue operation.

According to Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News, a tourist parked their rental car outside a museum in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, but neglected to put the handbrake on. As the empty car slowly rolled backwards to meet its watery grave in the Bosphorus Strait, several locals jumped onto the front, using just their body weight to leverage the moving vehicle.

With more than half the car dangling precariously over the water, the four men tied the vehicle to nearby bollards and then nonchalantly perched on the bonnet, passing the time until assistance arrived by smoking cigarettes and chatting on their mobile phones.